Addressing
the ceremony, Chairman of the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee Nguyen
Duc Long said after Vietnam and China complete customs clearance procedures of
goods and passengers at the Bac Luan Bridge II, economic and trade ties between
Quang Ninh and China’s Guangxi province, as well as between the two countries
in general, will advance.

The two
sides are also preparing for the formation of a bilateral economic cooperation area
at one end of the Bac Luan Bridge II, the connectivity between the Mong Cai
border gate economic zone and the Dongxing
National Key Development and Opening-up Experimental Zone of China, and trade
between Vietnam and China and Northeast Asia, he said.

Long highlighted the expressway connecting Hanoi with the northern city
of Hai Phong and Ha Long and Mong Cai cities of Quang Ninh to the Vietnamese
side, and China’s expressway system, as favourable conditions for the bilateral
trade.

It aims to ease traffic burden of the Bac Luan Bridge I, promote trade
and tourism cooperation between Quang Ninh and the Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region, gradually complete the external transport
system, and create a development momentum for Mong Cai city.

The four-lane bridge measures 154.5m long in the Vietnamese side and 463.5m
in the Chinese side, and 27.7m wide.

Built at a cost of 336 billion VND (nearly 14.8 million USD), the Bac
Luan Bridge II is the largest arch bridge in Vietnam. The construction of the
bridge and an 800-m linking road has been completed so far.

Over the past years, trade, investment and tourism cooperation between
Vietnam and China has made new strides. Vietnam is China’s biggest trade and
tourism partner in ASEAN with two-way trade reaching 47.21 billion USD in the
first seven months of this year, up 12.36 percent year on year. Of the figure,
export revenue stood at 15.62 billion USD, up 14.4 percent, and import turnover
was 31.59 billion USD, up 11.5 percent.

Vietnam ran a trade deficit of 15.97 billion USD with China, a decrease
of 3.03 percent against the same period last year.

In 2016, China continued to take the lead in the number of
holiday-makers to Vietnam, with 2.7 million, a year-on-year surge of 51.4
percent. Meanwhile, Vietnam had the largest number of visitors to China among
ASEAN nations with 2.2 million.

Between January and August this year, Vietnam welcomed more than 2.65 million
Chinese tourists, a rise of 51.4 percent over the corresponding time last year.
- VNA